Girl trampled to death, another child injured by elephants

Nalbari, Jul 12: A girl was trampled to death and another child seriously injured by a herd of wild elephants, which also destroyed several houses at Nagrijuli in Baksa district of Assam, early this morning.

The herd of jumbos came from Batabari forest on the Bhutan foothills and destroyed several thatched houses around 4.30 AM when the victims were sleeping, officials said.

The deceased girl was identified as Siba Magur (11), they said. Herds of wild elephants came out from the jungles on Wednesday night and destroyed thatched houses of six families in Natun village and four other houses in Sibru village in Nagrijuli area, rendering the people homeless.

Earlier on July 6, a teenaged girl was trampled to death and several houses were damaged by a herd of wild elephants at Hojai in Nagaon district. On July 8, yet another person was trampled to death and another injured by a wild jumbo that also damaged six houses near Kaziranga National Park in upper Assam.

In a separate incident in Coimbatore, a man was trampled to death by a wild tusker, early this morning at a village under Periyana Naicken Palayam forest range, police said. The 45-year-old man had gone out of his hut at Panapalli village to answer nature's call when the tusker suddenly emerged from the forest, chased him, and trampled him to death. Villagers noticed the body and informed police and forest department officials, who rushed to the spot and recovered the body.

Man-elephant conflicts has increased due to encroachment of forests by people, leading to shrinkage of jungles and their food sources, forcing the animals to come out in human habitations in search of food, environmentalists said.

(PTI and other agencies)